1 THE HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF ST ELIZABETH BY DR JENNY JEMMOTT INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF ST ELIZABETH St Elizabeth is one of Jamaica’s oldest parishes, having been among the second group of parishes which were in existence by 1671, following closely on the first batch which had been created by the Jamaican Assembly in 1664. The 1664 pioneering parishes were St Thomas, St David, St Andrew, St John, Clarendon, Port Royal and St Catherine. A 1671 Map of Jamaica, produced as a result of a survey of the island ordered by Governor Sir Thomas Modyford, showed St Elizabeth to be among the second group, which also included St George, St Mary, St Ann and St James. Before 1703, St Elizabeth was extremely large, covering most of western Jamaica, including present-day Westmoreland. As will be seen in a later section, changes to the boundaries of the parish began in 1703 and ended in 1814, reducing St Elizabeth to its present size. Even with these reductions, St Elizabeth remains today as Jamaica’s second largest parish, with an area of 1,212.4 square kilometres behind St Ann, the largest parish, with an area of 1,212.6 square kilometres. Black River, Capital of St Elizabeth Courtesy of the National Library of Jamaica 2 Map of St Elizabeth, Jamaica Courtesy of @ OpenStreetMap contributors. This map data is available under the Open Database License. The cartography is licensed as CC By-SA. Located in south-western Jamaica in the county of Cornwall, St Elizabeth is today bordered to the west by Westmoreland, to the east by Manchester, to the north by St James and Trelawny and to the south by the beautiful waters of the Caribbean Sea. This parish is rich in historical 3 and cultural significance, laying claim for example, to having the third highest number of recorded sites (thirty seven) where the Taino, the first Jamaicans lived. Only St Ann (seventy one) and Clarendon (forty) surpass St Elizabeth in known Taino sites. St Elizabeth also holds pride of place as being home to black freedom fighters inspired by Sam Sharpe and to Accompong, famous for its own freedom fight and the enduring cultural legacy of the Maroons. Accompong Cemetery in the Land of the Maroons Courtesy of the National Library of Jamaica Indeed, the history and culture of St Elizabeth have been shaped by the diverse populations who came or were brought to the parish over the centuries. St Elizabeth stands out for the variation in its geographical features, such as its majestic mountain ranges including the Nassau Mountains in the north-eastern section of the parish, the Lacovia Mountains, which lie to the west of the Nassau Mountains and the Santa Cruz Mountains, which run southward, dividing the vast St Elizabeth plains. These widespread plains and savannahs historically led to an emphasis on cattle rearing and agriculture and helped to shape St Elizabeth’s legacy as the breadbasket parish of Jamaica. 4 The parish is home to several rivers, including the historically significant Black River, which is the second longest river in Jamaica, next to Clarendon’s Rio Minho and from which the parish capital of Black River took its name. Jamaica’s largest wetlands, the Upper Morass and the Lower Morass, which are home to many species of endangered animals and ninety-two species of flowering plants, are to be found in St Elizabeth’s Black River Basin.1 BEFORE THE EUROPEANS: TAINO INHABITANTS OF ST ELIZABETH Taino Sites in St Elizabeth: Jamaica’s earliest inhabitants made their homes in many parts of St Elizabeth. As noted in the Introduction, the parish has the third highest number of known Taino sites next to Clarendon and St Ann. Of the thirty-seven recorded Taino locations in St Elizabeth, eighteen were Midden Sites and nineteen were Cave Sites. Midden sites are really heaps of accumulated refuse, which were formed over time. Archaeologists have found remains of items used by the Tainos in these middens. Examples include pieces of animal and fish bones, remains of tools, pottery and other artefacts used by the first Jamaicans who lived in villages on or near the midden sites. By studying the items found in these middens, archaeologists are able to give us a good idea of the material culture and lifestyle of the Tainos. The Cave Sites included Burial Caves, where some of their dead were laid to rest, and Petroglyph Caves. We know that Taino artists carved images into the rocks or walls of caves, and these rock carvings were known as Petroglyphs. These Petroglyphs shed light on aspects of the Tainos’ lifestyle, and they were probably important for ceremonial and religious purposes as well. A Bird’s Eye View of Taino Midden Sites in St Elizabeth: Tainos lived mainly by fishing as well as by farming and hunting. Most of their villages and, therefore, their middens were located along the coast of St Elizabeth. Taino midden sites were found at Alligator Pond and Alligator Pond River on the southeast coast, near to the border between St Elizabeth and Manchester. Other locations included Gilnock, which is near to Wilton, Calabash Bay to the west of Great Pedro Pond, the Black River site, near to Moco Point and Race Course, Sandy Bank, on the north-western bank of the Great Pedro Pond and four Fort Charles sites located close to each other on the southwest coast of St Elizabeth, near to Starve Gut Bay. Right on Black River Bay, very close to Black River High School, there are two more Taino sites, one at Knapville North and the other at Knapville South. Great Pedro Bay, near to Great Pedro Bluff on the southwestern tip of the parish, was home to yet another Taino midden site. A midden was also found at Long Acre Point in Malcolm Bay in the southwestern end of the parish. Taino middens were also found in the Bull Savannah district between Cutlass 5 Bay and Alligator Pond Bay, Billy Bay, between Starve Gut Bay and Frenchman’s Bay and at Lovers’ Leap (also known as Yardley Chase), southeast of Flagaman and Southfield. 6 The Yardley Chase Site (also known as Lovers’ Leap) of a Taino Midden Courtesy of the National Library of Jamaica 7 Turning the Spotlight on Selected Taino Middens in St Elizabeth: Alligator Pond Midden There were two important Taino settlements and middens in the area known today as Alligator Pond. Both settlements and middens were located along the southeast coast of St Elizabeth, close to the border with Manchester. The first was the Alligator Pond Midden and the second was the Alligator Pond River Midden. Alligator Pond midden was found at a distance of 0.09 kilometres from the sea, and this was in keeping with the Taino practice of settling their communities fairly near to the sea. The Alligator Pond site lay at five metres or fifteen feet above sea level and covered quite a large area of 13, 408 square metres, making it larger than the Alligator Pond River site. Interestingly, this site remained undisturbed until 1973, when Archaeologists carried out an extensive study of the midden. They found a reasonably large collection of fragments of pottery (sherds or potsherds) and utensils used by the Tainos of this village community. Among these were pieces of griddles (flat ceramic plates used for baking cassava bread) a water jar spout, nine handles, six of which belonged to water jars, a great many pottery fragments, some of which were decorated and some of which were plain. Some of the vessel fragments were pottery rims which were shaped like turtles. These turtle-shaped pottery rims were commonly found in some Taino middens, such as that at Alligator Pond, and this shows the importance of the turtle in the everyday lives of the Tainos. The turtle-shaped designs are a common feature of a Taino pottery style that archaeologists have named Redware, because of the red clay mixture applied by the Tainos to parts of some of their utensils. Archaeologists have shown that Tainos who practised the Redware culture were present in Jamaica before AD 900, and that they preferred to set up their villages along coastal areas, close to the seaside. This Redware culture was common among the Tainos of the dry, southern coastal areas of St Elizabeth, who settled near to the seaside. Interestingly, archaeologists found no shells, coral, fossils, animal or human bones here. Alligator Pond River Midden The Alligator Pond River midden was located closer to the sea than Alligator Pond, at a distance of 0.06 kilometres and was also at a lower elevation than Alligator Pond, being three metres or ten feet above sea level. This site was much smaller than Alligator Pond, covering an area of 4,358 square metres. Despite being much smaller, this site had a much larger and greater variety of Taino artefacts than Alligator Pond. In fact, Alligator Pond River is outstanding for its very large collection of Redware pottery. A variety of different ceramics was found here. These included 2,209 plain body sherds (broken pieces from the body of the pottery) ninety eight decorated body sherds, 374 plain rim sherds (from the rim of the pottery) 160 decorated rim sherds, fifty two plain griddles and forty eight handles. Of the 2, 209 plain body sherds found, 8 eighty six belonged to water jars and of the forty eight handles found, four belonged to water jars, which were commonly used by the Tainos. Interestingly, the carvings on the decorated pieces of pottery represented bats, sharks and not surprisingly, turtles.